“Is this great enough? Because if it’s not, sooner or later we’ll turn into one of those small regional agencies that does ads for oil changes.” -Matt Anderson Linda Baker of Oregon Business spoke to Matt Anderson of Struck, following his recent promotion from creative director to CEO of the Salt Lake City-based agency. Here […]

I stopped leafing through award show annuals years ago, but I do like to listen to radio spots. Therefore, I appreciate the 2014 Radio Mercury Awards making the spots from their 157 finalists available online for all to hear. There’s much worth listening to here and much of it is regional, so this is our […]

My favorite NFL team plays home games at Century Link Field. The communications technology company also has a large presence in Omaha, my hometown. Therefore, I want to like Century Link, but a print ad like this subtracts several points from the “brand love” scorecard. Worse than the say-nothing-to-no-one use of stock photography here, are […]

Elmore Leonard’s recent passing prompted Bruce McCall to write a reflective piece for The New Yorker. McCall worked on Chevy in Detroit at the same time Leonard was banging out Westerns on his typewriter and working as a copywriter. McCall notes how common it is for real writers to find “safe harbor” in the ad […]

Thanks to rapid advances in communications technology and the cultural changes it continues to daily usher in, the media and marketing businesses are more complex than ever. It’s the Age of Transparency, the Age of Measurement/ROI, the Age of Engagement and Relationships that Scale One-to-One, and so on. An ad man could lose himself in […]

I’ve written before about a company called Automated Insights and their “written” fantasy football recaps and other content. Now, they’re broadening their reach with the launch of Site AI, a new service that summarizes web analytics and site stats using reports written to simulate everyday language. This could mark an interesting turning point in our […]

Do you recognize a so-called native ad when you see one? It’s not as easy it sounds. Back in the day we used to plaster an ADVERTORIAL sign on top of any editorial that was supplied by a marketer. But marketers today want their ads, excuse me, their content, to blend in and fit seamlessly […]

I like being a copywriter, but lately I feel like it is a bit of a lost art. An afterthought. Something the client supplies, or God forbid, the design team. This is not a positive development for copywriters, nor is it for clients and their customers who will ultimately judge the work (harshly by ignoring […]

Finbar Dolan has made 42 commercials in his career. But no great or particularly memorable spots, nothing to win him a big award and a shot at industry-fame and fortune. Nevertheless, the protagonist of Truth In Advertising, a new novel by John Kenney, makes good money thinking up mediocre ideas for companies who make diapers […]

I hadn’t noticed it until now, but each week, my Fantasy Football team gets a nice matchup recap. Like this one: I have to admit, it’s very cool. And creepy at the same time. A company called Automated Insights teamed up with Yahoo! this year to do this for each Fantasy Football game. That’s millions […]